Disney comes to Pinewood: American giant set to move into historic studios in £5m 'major victory' for British film industry

Boost: America's Walt Disney company is negotiating a multi-million pound deal to move into the UK studios where many of Britain's greatest blockbusters - including the James Bond series and Harry Potter - were filmed

America’s Walt Disney company is negotiating a multi-million pound deal to move into the UK studios where many of Britain’s greatest blockbusters – including the James Bond series and Harry Potter – were filmed.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the entertainment and amusement park group – which owns America’s ABC TV network and one of Hollywood’s largest production centres – has drawn up an agreement to take over offices and sound stages at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire.

According to industry insiders, the deal is a ‘major victory’ for the British film industry. The investment is thought to be worth about £5 million, although Disney sources would not confirm the figure.

The complex is renowned for its gigantic sets, such as the 69,000 sq ft ‘007 stage’ built for the Bond movies, including Skyfall, the latest in the franchise, as well as for the fishing village featured in Mamma Mia!

Disney has used it for Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and Angelina Jolie was recently there to for Maleficent, the company’s remake of Sleeping Beauty.

Under the new agreement, Disney will have the sole use of several of the complex’s 17 sound stages. A spokesman said: ‘Walt Disney Studios is looking to enter into a long-term lease arrangement with Pinewood Studios.’

A Hollywood insider familiar with the agreement said last night: ‘Instead of paying to do productions at Pinewood on a film-by-film basis, the intention is that Walt Disney will have a lease on sound stages and the company will move into a certain amount of office space.’

The Pinewood studios are owned by billionaire property developer John Whittaker’s Peel Group and a jewellery chain, Warren James Holdings.

The company has big plans for the studios and hoped to win new business with an ambitious £200 million expansion, with proposals to build new sets replicating the streets of New York, Chicago, Amsterdam, Venice, Paris, Prague and parts of Lake Como.

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A housing development was also planned as part of the overall scheme, dubbed ‘Project Pinewood’.But in January it was rejected by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles because it involved building on Green Belt land. Pinewood is now working on new plans for the site, which it hopes to submit next month.

The studios have been facing increased competition from Chinese and South African studios and America’s Warner Brothers, which has opened a £60 million studio at a disused Hertfordshire aerodrome. Boasting nine massive sound stages, it was used for Ben Affleck’s new film, Argo.

Tradition: Pinewood is renowned for its gigantic sets, such as the 69,000 sq ft '007 stage' built for the Bond movies, including Skyfall, the latest in the franchise, pictured

During the 15 months to March, Pinewood made a loss of £1.9 million compared with a previous profit of £5.8 million. However, sources say much of the loss was due to money spent on Project Pinewood.

Last night, a Pinewood spokesman said of the deal: ‘I’m afraid it’s not something that we can comment on.’

But one movie industry expert said: ‘The agreement with Disney is a major victory for Pinewood. It’s an injection of assured cash into Britain’s best-known studio.’